Aslıhan Erkişi
Aslıhan Erkişi is a professional singer, composer, choir director, and a scholar of music education. She has been directing children’s choirs for the last 20 years in Europe. She has a Master’s Degree in Music Education and a Bachelor’s Degree in Voice Education. She is an expert in children’s choir teaching methods. Aslıhan also plays piano, classic kemençe (Polytiki Lyra), Qanun, and mandolin.
A choir is an organized group of singers that perform in harmony, supporting each other to create something beautiful together. Choir teaches us to be humble and to work together, it teaches us to be our best selves within a harmonious community.
To share, to discover our talents, to be successful, to be different, to socialize, to feel the love, for ourselves, for loved ones , for everyone!
All children from kindergarten through 8th grade are welcome!
Ertuğrul Erkişi is a renowned singer, composer, instrumentalist and producer of traditional Turkish music. Ertuğrul’s accomplishments in his field grew out of his passion and lifelong devotion to music which began with his comprehensive education. During his high school years, he studied music at the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Conservatory in Bursa, Turkey for four years. From 1990 to 1996, Ertuğrul completed undergraduate studies at the Turkish Music Conservatory in Izmir, Turkey. Thereafter, in 1999 he completed his master’s degree in Turkish Music at Ege University Institute of Social Sciences. Ertuğrul is also pursuing a PhD in Musicology.
Ertuğrul’s genius for writing and performing music was recognized early on. Between 1992 and 2000 he worked as an apprentice voice artist on the Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) station, where he was invited to perform alongside such Turkish musical giants as Kutlu Payaslı, Akın Özkan and Erdinç Çelikkol.
Mr. Erkişi has performed nationally and internationally for the past twenty years. Mr. Erkişi has made guest appearances on national and international television programs on more than twenty occasions. In addition, he hosted his own music show on television and radio for many years.
Ertuğrul Erkişi
Ertuğrul Erkişi
Ertuğrul Erkişi is a renowned singer, composer, instrumentalist and producer of traditional Turkish music. Ertuğrul’s accomplishments in his field grew out of his passion and lifelong devotion to music which began with his comprehensive education. During his high school years, he studied music at the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality Conservatory in Bursa, Turkey for four years. From 1990 to 1996, Ertuğrul completed undergraduate studies at the Turkish Music Conservatory in Izmir, Turkey. Thereafter, in 1999 he completed his master’s degree in Turkish Music at Ege University Institute of Social Sciences. Ertuğrul is also pursuing a PhD in Musicology.
Ertuğrul’s genius for writing and performing music was recognized early on. Between 1992 and 2000 he worked as an apprentice voice artist on the Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) station, where he was invited to perform alongside such Turkish musical giants as Kutlu Payaslı, Akın Özkan and Erdinç Çelikkol.
Mr. Erkişi has performed nationally and internationally for the past twenty years. Mr. Erkişi has made guest appearances on national and international television programs on more than twenty occasions. In addition, he hosted his own music show on television and radio for many years.
Ertuğrul Erkişi has given concerts in Germany, Austria, Holland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Russia, Tatarstan, Indonesia, and Belgium.
Mr. Erkişi is also a prolific composer of music. His first album was published in 1994 at the age of 22. Since then he has successfully published a total of 14 albums over the course of more than twenty years and has sung on 13 albums. He has also composed songs and albums for other professional singers for the past eighteen years.
Mr. Erkişi has received several awards including the National Music Award, one of the most prestigious music awards in Turkey.
Mr. Erkişi’s achievements are also evident in the sales of his recordings worldwide. He has sold over one million copies of his albums of sold worldwide.
Mr. Erkişi’s expertise in the field of music is such that he has also been selected to serve as a jurist on both national and international music competitions on more than ten occasions.
AWARDS
Mr. Erkişi has received several awards to date on the basis of his extraordinary talent.
In 2005, Mr. Erkişi composed the song, “Prayer for Mother and Father”. The song won a Kral TV Video Music Award. The Kral TV Video Music Award were considered to be one of the most prestigious awards of music in Turkey.
In 2005 and 2006 Mr. Erkişi composed and directed two albums for the child music group, Minik Dualar. The name of the albums are Tesekkur Ederim Allah’im and Tesekkur Ederim Allah’im 2. The commercial success of these 2 albums resulted in the award of a MU-YAP Turkey Music Industry Award in 2007. MU-YAP Music Industry Awards are “called Turkey’s Music Oscars”, and are given based on evaluations according to music sales.
Mr. Erkişi is the composer of fourteen albums, including four albums. The commercial success of Mr. Erkişi’s music is further confirmed by the performance of his music to stadium size crowds throughout Turkey. Specifically, Mr. Erkişi’s compositions for the albums, Tesekkur Ederim Allahim and Tesekkur Ederim Allahim 2 , were recorded and performed in concert by the group Minik Dualar, a group of children ages 6 to 13. Minik Dualar performed music from these albums to record stadium filled crowds throughout Turkey.
In 2011, Mr. Erkişi was selected as the artist of the year by the Writers Union of Turkey, for his album, “Songs from the Phase. The Artist of the Year award has been given for the past 35 years by The Writers Union of Turkey Writers.
JURUR PARTICIPATIONS AND SEMINARS
Mr. Erkişi has been selected to serve as a jury member on many occasions at music competitions held both nationally and internationally.
International Festival of Language & Culture(IFLC) held song competitions in 2014, 2015 and 2016 in Bucherest, Romania and invited Mr, Erkişi to be part of the jury. 2014, 2015, & 2016 song competitions were held in an historic hall in Bucherest, Romania. In addition to his services as a jury, he was the MC of IFLC Morocco program in 13 May 2015.
Turkceder, organizers of the “International Turkish Language Olympiad”, works with professors, artists and professionals to evaluate participating students language abilities and artistic performances. Mr. Ertuğrul Erkişi is one of these distinguished people as jury members. In addition to his role in annual final events in Turkey, he was invited to be a jury member in some local qualifications, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Egypt, Romania and Germany.
Mr. Erkişi was invited to be a head of the jury for Fatih University’s Music Scholarship Program in 2008.
A complete list of Mr. Erkişi’s juror participation is set forth below:
- 2016 International Festival Of Language and Culture Olympiads jury member, Bucherest, Romania
- 2015 International Turkish Language Olympiad, Jury Member, Final events
- 2015 International Festival Of Language and Culture, Morocco
- 2014 International Turkish Language Olympiad, Jury Member, Final events
- 2014 International Festival Of Language and Culture, Singing Grand Finale, Bucharest, Romania
- 2013 International Turkish Language Olympiad, Jury Member, Final events
- 2012 International Turkish Language Olympiad, Jury Member, Final events
- 2011 International Turkish Language Olympiad, Jury Member, Final events
- 2010 International Turkish Language Olympiad, Jury Member, Final events
- 2008 Fatih University Performing Arts Scholarship Sufficiency Exam (Head of Jury), Istanbul, Turkey
- 1997-1998 Ege University Conservatory, Special Talent Exam Elimination Jury Member, İzmir, Turkey
Mr. Erkişi has also been selected to speak and various education seminars at schools and universities.
CONTRIBUTION TO THE FIELD OF MUSIC
Mr. Erkişi has been instrumental in creating a new genre of Turkish music, that advanced the role of children in both performing Turkish music and as an audience for Turkish music.
In Turkey, conservatory education is composed of 50% traditional (or classical) Turkish music and 50% classical western music. Mr. Erkişi studied both western and classical Turkish music. Mr. Erkişi’s dual music education enabled him to synthesize the elements of different genres in the albums he composed and produced. Most importantly, Mr. Erkişi’s original concept of blending traditional Turkish music and Classical Western music became an educational tool for young and old alike, as Mr. Erkişi’s albums of children’s choir became more and more popular in Turkey and around the world.
After Mr. Erkişi created a vibe in this genre, many composers and lyric writers began to produce albums in the format Mr. Erkişi created. Thus, a new substantial sector was born which had never previously existed in Turkey.
Many children’s choirs were formed throughout the country as a result of the children’s choir that Mr. Erkişi established. These choirs performed the songs that we released in Mr. Erkişi’s albums. Since Mr. Erkişi’s compositions mainly focus on universal human virtues, it attracted and still attracts the attention of so many parents regardless of their social or political background.
Many well-respected organizations began to add special categories to their award ceremonies for these efforts. Kral TV Music Awards, considered to be the “Grammy Awards” of Turkey, added a new category to its awards due to this wave that Mr. Erkişi first ignited with his albums of children’s choir.
While many music producers attempted to follow Mr. Erkişi’s original concept and format, none were able to achieve the success rate that his albums reached. Mr. Erkişi became the pioneer in the sector and introduced a new phenomenon which then became a genre in Turkish music.
Mr. Erkişi’s significant contribution to Turkish music is further attested to by media and peers.
Aside from the children’s music production, Mr. Erkişi introduced another concept to the popular Turkish music: Bowed Tanbour is a classical Turkish instrument and there were only a handful of performers until he decided to perform this instrument on some TV shows which was at the brink of an extinction in the modern Turkish music. Due to Mr. Erkişi’s efforts of introducing this instrument, many young musicians began to perform Bowed Tanbour in Turkey.